The CESSDA Country Spotlight series showcases national service providers and holds interviews with representatives of the national service providers and members of the CESSDA community.

This time the series portrayed FORS. Discover the interview with Brian Kleiner, Head of Data & Research for Social Sciences at FORS. It sheds light on the power of CESSDA to foster teamwork in data archives.

The whole interview and further information:

https://www.cessda.eu/News/CESSDA-Newsitem-nid3592

Georg Henning from the German Centre of Gerontology in Berlin, Germany, and his colleagues have published their research on historical and cross-country differences in life satisfaction across retirement between 2000 and 2019 in Germany and Switzerland. They used data from the SHP and the SOEP and found that life satisfaction trajectories around retirement age have improved over the last 20 years. Their findings may be explained by general improvements in the health and psychosocial functioning of older people.

Please find the detailed results here: https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbad066

Call MOSAiCH

Are you working on topics such as crises, risks, uncertainty and vulnerability and are using MOSAiCH-data or other Swiss surveys on attitudes? Then this is for you! FORS organizes a session entitled “MOSAiCH and attitudinal surveys in Switzerland: a tool for measuring crisis, uncertainty and Vulnerability?” at the Congress of the Swiss Sociological Association 2024 (9-11 September in Basel). We are looking for papers that either are based on MOSAiCH data or discuss collecting data using general population surveys in Switzerland such as MOSAiCH.

Organizers:
Alexandre Pollien (FORS / UNIL), Michèle Ernst Stähli (FORS / UNIL), Marlène Sapin (FORS / UNIL), Karin Nisple (FORS / UNIL), Michael Ochsner (FORS / UNIL)

Contact: Michèle Ernst Stähli et Alexandre Pollien

Deadline: January 5, 2024

All info: https://www.fhnw.ch/plattformen/sgs-kongress/wp-content/uploads/sites/342/WS_MOSAiCH_pollien-1.pdf

Call on Analysing Gender

Exploring Innovative Measures in Quantitative Surveys / Analyser le genre : exploration d’indicateurs innovants dans les enquêtes quantitatives

The main objective of this workshop is to move beyond the binary thinking and the traditional approach to gender roles. To capture diversity more comprehensively in quantitative surveys, it is essential to develop new measures (or integrate established ones) regarding sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, attitudes and behaviours related to gender, as well as lived experiences.

Organizers:
Christina Bornatici (FORS – Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences), Jérôme Blondé (University of Lausanne (UNIL), Jacques-Antoine Gauthier (University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lavinia Gianettoni (University of Lausanne (UNIL), Jean-Marie Le Goff (University of Lausanne (UNIL), Stephanie Steinmetz (Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences (FORS) / University of Lausanne (UNIL)

Contact : christina.bornatici@fors.unil.ch

Deadline: January 5, 2024

All info: https://www.fhnw.ch/plattformen/sgs-kongress/wp-content/uploads/sites/342/WS_Analysing_Gender_bornatici-2.pdf

Call on (De)gendering vulnerabilities

The workshop will critically discuss this relationship between gender and vulnerabilities in different research contexts. To what extent is gender
(ir)relevant with regard to vulnerable groups and how does the category influence the perception and construction of vulnerabilities in the first place (e.g., single parents, employees in the low-wage sector, sex workers, welfare recipients)? How do organizations or national contexts (re)poduce vulnerabilities and how is gender linked to it (e.g., science, school, labor market, social work)? How can we do methodological justice to the current complexity of change and persistence of gender differences?

Organizers: Stephanie Steinmetz (University of Lausanne, Quartier UNIL-Mouline), Nathalie Pasche (Hochschule für Soziale Arbeit FHNW), Christina Bornatici (FORS – Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences), Irene Kriesi (Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training, SFUVET), Lucia Lanfranconi (Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts); Isabelle Zinn (University of Lausanne), Martina Peitz (Independent researcher)

Contact:  stephanie.steinmetz@unil.ch
Deadline: January 5, 2024

All info: https://www.fhnw.ch/plattformen/sgs-kongress/wp-content/uploads/sites/342/WS_Degendering_vulnerabilities_pasche-1.pdf

Depuis 1995, l’étude électorale suisse (Selects) étudie le comportement électoral des citoyen-ne-s suisses lors des élections nationales. Elle explore les dynamiques de formation des opinions, les facteurs influençant la participation politique et les choix électoraux, et recueille des données sur les campagnes des candidats, les politiques et les points de vue sur la représentation. Selects, financé par le Fonds national suisse de la recherche scientifique (FNS) et basé au sein du FORS depuis 2008, fournit des ensembles de données pour des comparaisons à long terme et intègre continuellement de nouvelles recherches.

Ci-dessous, vous trouverez quelques liens vers des articles dans lesquels l’étude Selects et/ou des membres de l’équipe Selects sont mentionnés :

The 2023 Swiss Federal Elections: Last Time’s Winners Lose and Losers Win (Who Governs Europe, 03.11.2023)

Mit der SVP wollen sie nichts zu tun haben – weshalb die ausscherenden Frauenparteien keine Überraschung sind (NZZ, 02.11.2023)

Wo sind all die Liberalen hin? (NZZ am Sonntag, 28.10.2023)

«Seuls contre tous» (Le Courrier, 24.10.2023)

Fédérales 2023: la victoire du parti «seul contre tous» (Le Nouvelliste, 24.10.2023)

Anke Tresch, politologue: «Il faut du contenu qui parle aux jeunes, pas uniquement de la forme» (Le Temps, 04.10.2023)

Les élections ne changent in fine pas grand-chose (20minutes, 26.09.2023)

Signora Tresch, come riesce un partito a vincere le elezioni? (DeFacto, 21.09.2023)

Frau Tresch, wie wird eine Partei zur Wahlsiegerin? (DeFacto, 21.09.2023)

Madame Tresch, comment un parti devient-il victorieux aux élections ? (DeFacto, 21.09.2023)

Signora Rennwald, l’UDC è il partito dei lavoratori? (DeFacto, 05.09.2023)

Frau Rennwald, ist die SVP die Partei der Arbeiterschaft? (DeFacto, 05.09.2023)

Madame Rennwald, l’UDC est-elle le parti des travailleurs ? (DeFacto, 05.09.2023)

La chute de l’identification partisane en Suisse et ses conséquences pour les échéances électorales (Le Temps, 03.07.2023)

Dans un document issu du cercle d’experts coordonné par la Swiss Data Alliance pour la réutilisation secondaire des données, FORS/linkhub.ch et Interpharma formulent les exigences pour une «loi-cadre pour la réutilisation des données» du point de vue de la recherche en sciences sociales et pharmaceutique.

En juin de cette année, le Parlement a transmis au Conseil fédéral la motion pour une «loi-cadre pour la réutilisation des données» pour mise en œuvre, prenant ainsi une décision directionnelle importante : elle demande au Conseil fédéral de créer dans une loi-cadre les bases nécessaires pour pouvoir établir et construire rapidement des infrastructures pour la réutilisation secondaire des données dans des domaines stratégiquement pertinents. Cela devrait permettre à l’avenir de lier et d’utiliser des données dans de nombreux domaines pour la recherche fondée sur des preuves et la prise de décision politique. Cela est d’une grande importance notamment pour la recherche en sciences sociales en Suisse.

Exigences vis-à-vis d’une loi-cadre du point de vue de la recherche en sciences sociales et en pharmacie

Are you involved in the provision of data management support to social science researchers in Swiss research institutions? Do researchers ask you for advice on how to comply with open data requirements? Are you dealing with questions such as:

• “Do my research materials include personal data?”
• “Can research materials including personal data be shared with other researchers or for teaching?”
• “What are the conditions for sharing research materials including personal data in a data repository?”
• “What are the different options for complying with open data requirements?”

Format: Presentations by FORS and Unil staff members + Q&A sessions
Audience: Support staff, data stewards, librarians, research consultants, anyone involved in the provision of data management support

During this half-day event, the FORS data management support team, in collaboration with the research office of the University of Lausanne, will provide you with practical guidance on how to assess the shareability of research data, including personal and sensitive data, both quantitative and qualitative. The focus of the workshop will be on data that have already been collected, and which are intended to be shared in a data repository, such as SWISSUbase.

Detailed information and registration:  https://forscenter.ch/sharing-personal-data-through-a-data-repository/

We are proud to announce that our Data Service has obtained, for the second time, the CoreTrustSeal certification.

The CoreTrustSeal is a globally recognized certification awarded to organizations that have demonstrated their dedication to responsible data stewardship and excellence in data management practices. By obtaining this seal, the FORS Data Service has officially confirmed its adherence to rigorous international standards and best practices for ensuring the authenticity, integrity, and reliability of research data.

The CoreTrustSeal is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and recognizing trustworthy data repositories and services. Their comprehensive certification process evaluates an organization’s data management policies, practices, and infrastructure to ensure they meet international criteria for data trustworthiness. CoreTrustSeal certification is highly regarded in the research and data management community as a mark of excellence.

We are honoured to be among organisations dedicated to providing sustainable and trustworthy data infrastructures. This achievement reaffirms our commitment to the data community, our stakeholders, and the pursuit of knowledge. As we continue to serve our community, researchers, and data users, we look forward to leveraging this certification to further enhance data quality, transparency, and collaboration.

Further information: https://www.coretrustseal.org/about/

Travaillez-vous actuellement avec des données de sciences sociales que vous avez obtenues de FORS ? Ou envisagez-vous de le faire dans les prochains mois ? Alors pensez à soumettre votre article au prix FORS Data Re-use Award 2023 et tentez de gagner jusqu’à 1’000 CHF. Ce prix sera décerné aux jeunes chercheuses et chercheurs qui effectuent d’excellentes recherches basées sur des données secondaires. La date limite de soumission est le 1er octobre 2023. Pour plus d’informations: https://forscenter.ch/fors-data-reuse-award-2023/

The CNES Seminar Series casts a spotlight on different National Election Studies that share their experiences in designing and conducting election studies.

Participation is free and open to everyone interested in the practices and methodological aspects of electoral research.

First edition: Implementing mixed-mode surveys

14 November 2023

15:30-17:00 (Central European time, GMT +1)

PROGRAMME

Chair: Eva Heiða Önnudóttir, Icelandic National Election Study (ICENES)

Participation is free but registration is mandatory. The deadline for registration was October 31, 2023.
Howerer you can still register here.

Further information on CNES: https://www.cnes.community/

The ISSP is pleased to announce the publication of the final release of the international ISSP 2020 Environment IV data file (ZA7650_v2.0.0), which includes data from Switzerland and 27 other ISSP member countries around the world.

The data and associated documentation for this release can be found at: https://www.gesis.org/en/issp/modules/issp-modules-by-topic/environment/2020

Parallel to the final release, the ISSP is organizing its second ISSP User Conference scheduled to take place online on December 4, 2023, with a primary focus on the topic of Environment. The Call for Abstracts is currently open for submissions:

https://issp.org/about-issp/issp-user-conference/

Les résultats du Panel suisse de ménages ont été largement commentés dans les médias ces derniers temps. La NZZ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) et d’autres journaux ont fait mention de la baisse du taux de fécondité en Suisse. Alors que 16% des femmes en Suisse étaient sans enfant il y a 30 ans, ce chiffre est passé à 25% aujourd’hui. Valérie-Anne Ryser, chercheuse senior au PSM, a été invitée à l’émission RTS FORUM pour discuter de ces résultats. L’intégralité de l’interview est disponible ici :

Tous les communiqués de presse sont disponibles ici :
https://forscenter.ch/projects/swiss-household-panel/scientific-activities/?lang=fr

Switzerland has been granted full membership in the Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives (CESSDA ERIC), as unanimously approved by the CESSDA General Assembly on June 8, 2023. CESSDA ERIC aims to promote social science research and support national and international research cooperation by bringing together social science data archives across Europe. In a data-driven research world, trusted data and service infrastructures such as CESSDA ERIC are crucial in fostering scientific innovation through data sharing and data accessibility across national borders.

Previously, Swiss participation in European research infrastructures was limited to observer status. However, in December 2022, the Swiss Parliament created the legal framework for Switzerland to become a full member of European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERICs) and allowed Switzerland to request full membership in CESSDA along with five other ERICs. As a result of this development, Switzerland will now have a formal voice in CESSDA decision-making through its member status and voting rights in the CESSDA ERIC General Assembly.

FORS has been nominated as the national CESSDA service provider by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). FORS has been an active member of CESSDA as an observer for many years and will continue to do so with renewed status as a full member. SERI’s Katharina Eggenberger and FORS’s Brian Kleiner will work together to represent Switzerland in the CESSDA General Assembly.

The collaboration between Swiss researchers and research infrastructures with those in other European countries is highly relevant to advance science in many domains, and FORS and CESSDA therefore welcome this milestone with FORS joining CESSDA ERIC as a full member.

For additional information please contact:

• FORS Director: Georg Lutz (lutz@fors.unil.ch)
• CESSDA Director: Bonnie Wolff-Boenisch (wolff-boenisch@cessda.eu)

CESSDA stands for Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives and ERIC stands for European Research Infrastructure Consortium. CESSDA provides large-scale, integrated and sustainable data services to the social sciences. It brings together social science data archives across Europe, with the aim of promoting the results of social science research and supporting national and international research and cooperation.

www.cessda.org

List of all service providers

The third edition of data and documentation for the European Social Survey (ESS) Round 10 has just been published.

Data from all 31 countries who took part in Round 10 (2020-22), including Switzerland, is now available via the ESS Data Portal.

A short briefing can be consulted here: Notes on ESS Round 10 data release.

The Round 10 survey includes the core questionnaire, fielded in every round.

It also includes two rotating modules: Europeans’ understandings and evaluations of democracy and Digital social contacts in work and family life.

Additionally, a special COVID-19 module was fielded by countries on a voluntary basis.

Detailed information on Round 10 data release is available on the ESS website.

The data overview for Round 10 Switzerland can be consulted here: Ernst Stähli, Michèle, Ochsner, Michael, Pollien, Alexandre, Nisple, Karin & Sapin, Marlène (2023). European Social Survey, Switzerland – 2021 (Round 10) (1.0.0) [Dataset]. FORS data service.https://doi.org/10.48573/8p06-0t58

Des chercheurs et chercheuses de FORS et de la Faculté des sciences sociales et politiques ont animé un atelier aux Mystères de l’UNIL du 1er au 4 juin, visant à donner une introduction à la littératie des données aux enfants de 8 à 12 ans, et à mieux visibiliser auprès du grand public nos enquêtes qui récoltent des données sur la santé de la population Suisse.

L’atelier a été conçu et organisé par Caroline Roberts, chercheuse et enseignante des méthodes quantitatives auprès de la Faculté SSP à l’UNIL et méthodologue d’enquête collaborant avec FORS sur des recherches visant à améliorer la qualité de nos données. Mis en oeuvre en collaboration avec Carmen Borrat-Besson et Michèle Ernst-Stähli, ainsi que la médiatrice Elodie Cachelin et ses collègues chargés de l’organisation des Mystères, l’atelier a pris la forme d’une exposition incluant 7 postes interactifs traitant de différents thèmes liés à la mesure de la santé de la population avec des enquêtes par sondage.

À chaque poste, différentes activités ludiques ont été animées par des collaborateurs-trices de FORS et de LIVES: Maud Wieczorek, Robert Reinecke, Louis Durussel, et Marc Asensio Manjon; les organisatrices: Caroline Roberts, Carmen Borrat-Besson et Michèle Ernst-Stähli, et deux assistantes-étudiantes de la faculté: Camille Haas et Marie Muratori. Les activités ont été conçues pour illustrer les notions clés de la mesure de la santé par enquête, à savoir le rôle des données et des statistiques dans la prise de décision, les différents types et sources de données sur la santé et le rôle des enquêtes, la visualisation des statistiques pour comprendre les inégalités de santé et l’importance des ‘bonnes données’ (données pour le bien public, mais aussi des données de bonne qualité) dans la recherche sur la santé publique. Durant les 4 jours de la manifestation, nous avons accueilli près de 300 personnes, dont 8 classes d’élèves de la région lausannoise débutant leur apprentissage dans le monde des données quantitatives.

Copyright: Caroline Roberts

We have published Wave 23 of the SHP! You can find all the data sets on SWISSUbase (Living in Switzerland Waves 1-23 + Covid 19 data). Wave 23 contains the two modules Religion and Psychological dimensions as well as new questions on chronic diseases.

You can access the new data here: https://doi.org/10.48573/cm0q-ah20

Christoph Zangger from the University of Bern has published a new study based on the SHP Covid-19 study. He investigated how and for whom relations with neighbors changed during the pandemic and how these changes impacted subjective well-being and trust in other people. His study shows that the most vulnerable groups in terms of health and socio-economic status saw their subjective well-being and trust negatively impacted through the challenging circumstances of the pandemic as well as indirectly through a relative deterioration of neighborly relations.

Find the detailed results here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101307

To increase the user-friendliness of the SHP data, we rethought the documentation page of our website. All the information concerning the SHP documentation is now compiled on one page and easily accessible. You can also find a new overview of all variables  included in the SHP and their availability per year.

This is our new documentation page.

Registration for the 27th edition of the Summer School is still open and will remain open until all places are filled or until the 14th of July – whichever is sooner.

To the registration.

In 2023, in response to requests from past editions’ participants, we are introducing three new courses:

• Designing and Conducting Social-scientific Experiments
• Conducting a Grounded Theory Study
• Web Scraping and Data Mining in R

Notre rapport annuel 2022 présente nos recherches, nos services de données, nos infrastructures, nos programmes de collaboration et nos publications. Le rapport résume également toutes les activités liées à nos enquêtes nationales et internationales.

Dans l’éditorial du rapport, le directeur de FORS, le professeur Georg Lutz, souligne le fait que les infrastructures de recherche sont importantes dans de nombreuses disciplines scientifiques, car elles organisent de nombreux projets à long terme qui concernent des communautés de recherche entières. FORS n’héberge pas seulement des projets d’infrastructure tels que les archives nationales de données; FORS contribue aussi activement à renforcer la position des infrastructures de sciences humaines à long terme et à assurer une bonne coordination entre les projets et les initiatives existants.

Consultez notre rapport annuel  2022 (en anglais).

The 6th wave of Selects was fielded  between September 26 and November 6, 2022. This wave provides insights, among others, into vote intention in federal elections, vote decision in popular votes, opinion on various issues related to the implications of the war in the Ukraine (like the reception of Ukrainian refugees, energy policy, security policy, etc.).

The data of waves 1 to 6 of the panel survey SELECTS can be found on SWISSUbase

https://doi.org/10.48573/4my6-rd07

Informaition on SELECTS: https://forscenter.ch/projects/selects/

Nous avons le plaisir d’annoncer la publication des données MOSAiCH/ISSP 2022 sur la famille et les rôles liés au genre collectées au printemps 2022.

Les données et la documentation sont disponibles ici : https://www.swissubase.ch/en/catalogue/studies/20135/18818/datasets/2161/2569/overview

L’édition 2022 de MOSAiCH est construite autour du module « Family and Changing Gender Roles V » de l’International Social Survey Programme (ISSP). Ce module, qui est répété pour la cinquième fois, est l’une des séries thématiques les plus anciennes de l’ISSP, pour laquelle des données suisses sont également disponibles pour les éditions 2012 et 2002. Cette partie internationale est complétée par des questions socio-démographiques sélectionnées, ainsi qu’un module composé de questions spécifiques à la Suisse.

The ESS Scientific Advisory Board has completed its selection of rotating modules for the European Social Survey Round 12.

For the first time the Board has selected 2 repeat modules. The successful modules are:

• ‘Personal and social wellbeing’ led by Frank Martela, Aalto University, School of Science (Finland)
• ‘Attitudes to immigrants and refugees’ led by Anthony Heath, University of Oxford (UK).  This module team includes NCs from Portugal (Alice Ramos) and Ukraine (Tymofii Brik).

Both modules address crucial academic and policy relevant topics for Europe and provide both innovation and continuity, thereby supporting new topics as well as time series analysis. For more information and to access the proposals see News | European Social Survey (ESS)

The 12th International Conference of Panel Data Users in Switzerland will take place on June 14-15, 2023 at the University of Lausanne.

This edition will include thematic sessions as well as a poster session. The thematic sessions cover a wide variety of topics, such as health and well-being, education and labour market, socio-economic inequality and mobility, families, gender, ethnic minorities and migration, politics and attitudes, survey methodology, and longitudinal methods. We also offer the possibility to propose complete sessions on other themes.

We welcome all contributions based on longitudinal data, such as the “Swiss Household Panel” (SHP), the “LIVES-FORS Cohort”, the “Transition from Education to Employment” (TREE), the “Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe” (SHARE), and the “Swiss Survey of Children and Youth” (COCON). As the SHP is a member of the Cross National Equivalent File (CNEF), we especially welcome presentations or posters comparing Switzerland with other countries participating in the CNEF. Please note that the language of the conference is English.

Deadline for abstracts and session proposals is February 27, 2023.

The conference is interdisciplinary, and we welcome participants from all areas of the social sciences. Please submit your session proposal or your abstract for a presentation or a poster to swisspanel@fors.unil.ch.

Abstracts for presentations and posters

Please include in the abstract:

• The names and affiliations of all authors;
• The name(s) and e-mail addresses of the attending author(s);
• The session to which the abstract belongs. Please indicate poster session or one of the thematic sessions listed above. It is possible to suggest more than one suitable session;
• The title of the presentation or the poster;
• An abstract of around 250 words (max. 500).

Session proposals

We can only accept complete session proposals that include at least three presentations. Please include in the proposal:

• Name, affiliation and e-mail address of the chair;
• Title of the session;
• Titles and abstracts (250-500 words each) of the presentations in the session;
• Names, affiliations and e-mail addresses of the presenters.

The PDF of the call

MOSAiCH 2024 – Appel à contributions 

Nous invitons les chercheuses et chercheurs à proposer des questions pour l’enquête qui suivra le module ISSP 2024 portant sur les sociétés digitales. Les critères de sélection seront notamment la qualité scientifique, la pertinence pour une utilisation scientifique large et la qualité méthodologique des questions. Les propositions retenues seront administrées en printemps 2024 et les données seront disponibles début 2025. Le délai de soumission est fixé au lundi 24 avril 2023.

Vous trouverez de plus amples informations dans le document PDF CALL MOSAiCH 2024.

The European Social Survey (ESS) has published data from an additional 15 countries who participated in Round 10 (2020-22) of our survey.

This second release – available exclusively through the ESS Data Portal – includes 25 countries whose data has been published alongside post-stratification weights.

Due to measures implemented to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus, some countries fielded our Round 10 questionnaire using self-completion methods for the first time.

This updated dataset therefore includes 19 countries who administered the survey in line with previous rounds: using only in-person interviews.

Data collected in this way is available from 19 countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland.

Data from six countries – Austria, Germany, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Sweden – was collected through online and postal questionnaires using a ‘self-completion’ design.

As a result of the inclusion of data that was collected using only self-completion modes, we have published a short briefing: Notes on ESS Round 10 data release.

Read the briefing: Notes on ESS Round 10 data release

Download the latest data from the ESS Data Portal

Further information on the release can be found on the ESS website